Black and Pink
by Your Friend Raichel
Summary: Tommy Oliver did not expect the past to appear in a monster fight brandishing a broom. Kimberly Hart didn't expect the past to walk into her store.


It was a quiet day in Reefside. It always is, just before a black-hole-esque invisiportal opens up and spits out some monstrosity. Today, the portal opened outside of an independent garden center on the most inland edge of town, releasing a creature that looked to be part bug, part flower, and part vine, with some tree and bush bits thrown in for good measure.

The creature cackled slyly to itself as it lumbered up to a display of potted plants outside the store. Who it was speaking to no one could know, but it was downright gleeful in recounting its plan.

"Look at these lovely flowers! So beautiful, so full of life, so ready to be taken home! If I just drop a little bit of poison in each one-" It was cut short by something even the most aware and prepared monster could not have predicted:

The owner of the flower shop burst out and stabbed at it with the stick end of a broom.

"Ow! What the-?!" it wailed. The broom had not broken the creature's strange, leathery skin, but it had startled the monster severely, and would probably leave a mark. Tyrannodrones fell from the invisiportal to help their superior, but the woman in her late twenties who owned the shop was unfazed.

"Back off, creeps!" she barked, still brandishing the broom.

"Jeez! What's your problem?!" the monster spat.

She didn't dignify it with an answer, whipping the broom around to smack it in the head. It stumbled back, and a small handful of tyrannodrones surrounded her. She took a moment to assess the situation before dishing out strategic kicks, taking down two of the tyrannodrones. A twirl of the broom and another kick took out three more, as the others scrambled back to their feet. But she wouldn't have to keep fighting them alone.

"Hey!" a young man's voice shouted, "You want a fight?"

The shop owner glanced over her shoulder to see the speaker - a red ranger. He had a blue, a yellow and a black ranger with him. She nodded to herself, and kept fighting tyrannodrones. They were better suited for fighting a real monster, anyway.

The Monster knew it, too, and turned on them.

"Eat poison!" it shrieked, firing projectiles at the rangers.

By this point the shop owner was down to two tyrannodrones - the rest had gone to keep the four rangers busy. She began to feel like she was playing whack-a-mole; she would kick them down, and they would just hop back up again. She would punch them - they'd get back up. Hit them - get back up. Smack them over the head with a broom - back up again.

She grumbled under her breath as they got up again, and one managed to land a hit on her arm.

"Ma'am!" the black ranger jumped in, taking out one tyrannadrone, but bringing two with him, "It's probably best if you-"

The sentence trailed off, any other words stuck in his throat, as the pair made eye contact. (Well, sort of - she had only a helmet to look at.) She raised a skeptical eyebrow and kicked a tyrannadrone down, knocking another over with her broom.

"Hey, ma'am?" the yellow ranger followed up, "You've got good moves, but you're probably better off taking cover!"

The store owner smiled at her, lowering her broom and letting the yellow ranger knock down three drones.

"Yes ma'am," she responded, tossing the yellow ranger a salute and jogging back into her store. Kira glanced at her teacher, whose attention was still glued to the florist.

* * *

The incident didn't come up again until everyone was back at the base, feeling good about getting rid of another monster. Ethan and Conner were busy comparing accomplishments when Kira finally posed her question:

"So, Dr. O, what happened with that lady? You seemed kinda'… out of it."

Tommy jolted at the question.

"Oh, she just… looked like somebody I knew."

If he didn't look so serious, Kira might have tossed in a joke about the florist being an ex of his, but something stopped her. Something other than needing to get back home for dinner before anyone got suspicious, though that was important, too. But the same thing that kept her from speaking casually about it had her standing at Hayley's counter as soon as the Cyberspace opened the next morning.

"Good morning," Hayley offered absently, drying glasses. "you're up early for a Saturday."

"Do you think Dr. O is ok?" Kira asked, cutting straight to the case.

Hayley paused,

"Why do you ask?"

"He just acted a little weird yesterday. I thought you might know."

"Possessed-by-a-monster weird, or got-the-flu weird?" Hayley tried to clarify. It was worth checking, given their line of work.

"No, more of a-" Kira searched for a vague way to describe what she'd seen, but she couldn't find one. "distracted-by-a-florist weird."

Hayley cocked her head,

"I'm not sure I follow."

"Ok, so, like-" Kira sat down at the bar while Hayley puttered around, "we were fighting that monster yesterday, right? And this lady's flower shop got attacked. She was really kicking butt, but as soon as Dr. O got a good look at her he totally froze up. All he said about it was that she looked like somebody he used to know."

Hayley frowned, thinking it over.

"Well, I can think of two explanations," she concluded, pausing her work and leaning on the counter across from Kira, "she's either a plant by Mezogog who did something to him, or she really is someone from his past. Both are equally likely," she admitted, getting back to work. "I'll talk to him."

"Thanks," Kira said, tossing her bag over her shoulder and heading for the door.

Watching the kid leave, Hayley weighed her options - a conversation over the phone now, or a conversation in person after her work day was over. She settled for the phone conversation now; that could rule out severe mind control, at least.

She pressed the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she made sure tables were in place and food prep was as ready as possible. She might need to clean the windows tomorrow-

"Yeah?"

"Hey, Tommy," she responded, pulling her thoughts away from menial restaurant work. "how are you?"

There was a brief silence on the other end.

"Why are you asking?"

"Kira's worried about you. She says you got distracted yesterday."

"Oh, yeah," Tommy chuckled, "that's nothing."

That didn't sound _too_ dismissive. She could probably rule out possession.

"Seeing 'somebody you used to know' doesn't sound like nothing to me."

"Is this really the best use of your time? The Cyberspace should be open-"

"Alright, alright," she accepted. "but I'm keeping tabs on you. I'm coming to the base to grill you after closing."

"Suit yourself."

* * *

Tommy stood in the command center, lights flickering and controls beeping quietly. He knew, somehow, that his power was low. On the viewing globe, Kimberly and the other rangers were fighting putties. They were fighting to get to Rita's monster-du-jour. He needed to help his friends, and Zordon allowed it. He was fighting with the team, now, with Kim. Kim looked different, though. Still Kim, for sure, but Kim as she looked now, he realized, kicking a tyranodrone. Kim as he had seen her-

"Tommy!"

"Kim…?" he muttered, disoriented, pushing himself up off the desk and into a sitting position.

"Sorry, no," Hayley corrected him. "just me. Have you been here all day?"

"There's a lot of research to do," he tried to cover, putting on his only semi-useful glasses. He must've fallen asleep on the job… what time was it?

"Really," Hayley retorted. She leaned on the desk next to him, "so, is Kim who you ran into yesterday?"

Tommy hesitated, trying to get some sleep out of his eye. The Cyberspace closed around eight, so it was probably after nine…

"…yeah."

"Wasn't she 'the ex to end all exes'?"

"Did I really say that?"

"I think you'd had a few beers," Hayley allowed, "but I'm pretty sure that was how you described her. She was the first, right?"

"Yeah," he sighed.

"So, what happened? I heard Kira's take on it - sounds like you got distracted."

"That's a good way to put it."

"So, are you going to see her?"

"I don't know," Tommy groaned, turning his back on the desk and the towering equipment.

"You should go see her."

"You think?"

"It's been, what? Almost a decade?"

"God, probably," Tommy admitted.

"You should go talk to her. You know she'd get a kick out of it."

" _She_ broke up with _me_ ," he reminded her.

"Sure, but you can't get rid of that ranger connection, right? You're always going on about it: 'Once a ranger-"

"…always a ranger," he chimed in over Hayley's ridiculous impression of him.

"All the other rangers you've reconnected with have been a blast! Just give it a shot."

"Will you set me up?" he asked, giving her his best 'I-am-useless-humor-me' look of concern.

"No."

"But you're so much better with talking to women!"

"I only set you up when there was a pay off for both of us. I'm not helping you talk to your ex. Just go to her shop in the morning and say hi! It's the easiest conversation known to human language."

* * *

Easy his ass. This might have been the hardest thing Tommy had ever done. And given his track record, that was impressive.

He stood with his back to the front of the garden center building, trying for the third time to psyche himself into just going in and talking to her. He'd taken the first step twice already, and chickened out both times, thinking of even more reasons and ways that this could go horribly wrong. He had ruled out her not remembering him (a silly thought, but it had crossed his mind), but Kim not wanting anything to do with him, or not even being there, both remained very real possibilities.

He fidgeted with his metal wristband, spinning it around and around his wrist, and a thought occurred to him. A plan formed in his mind as he looked over the black stone set into it, complete with an excuse to be there… this plan was a little ridiculous, but at least he wouldn't have to go back and tell Hayley he'd bailed. He was afraid to think of what she might do: drag him back and make him talk to Kim, talk to Kim herself, run down a list of all the reasons he was being a terrible coward, or - possibly worst of all - she could say absolutely nothing, and leave him to wallow in his own guilt and regret.

So, all things considered, this plan was a little stupid, but it would do.

* * *

Kimberly Hart did not have any extreme reactions to a power ranger walking into her shop. No great delight or awe, no surprise or concern. Just a relatively normal, "Can I help you?" and a small smile as the black ranger walked up to the counter. Though a trained eye might notice that she did look him up and down, analyzing him.

"Um," Tommy faltered for a brief moment, a little unnerved by her composure. Did she know it was him? How much did she know? "Your store was attacked, yesterday," he said, "I wanted to make sure everything was OK, and that you had brought the plants inside. I- I see that you have," he added, gesturing towards the door and the front of the store.

"I know to keep my plants out of a monster's reach," she assured him. "it said it was looking to poison them," she added, "you might want to keep an eye out for that."

"Ah! Yes! I- I was also here to see if you had any information. About the monster." that was a better question, he realized. He should've thought of that sooner.

"That's all I know," she told him with a small shrug. "having fun being a power ranger?"

"Yeah," he managed, "yeah, it's good. Fighting evil. All that. Good stuff."

Oh god, did she know it was him? Was she just taunting him?

"That's good to hear," she smiled at him. There was a look in her eyes like she knew something. What did she know?! In an instant her eyes were wide. "Look out!" she barked. By the time he turned and registered the monster the poison had hit him, and he collapsed to the ground, forced out of ranger form.

"Hah! A ranger AND all the plant life!" the monster boasted, "What a haul!"

Kim had ducked behind the counter and reappeared in an instant, brandishing a bow. She let an arrow fly, wedging itself in the doorframe just over the monster's shoulder. The monster yelped, stepping away.

"That was your first warning shot," she explained, another arrow already aimed at the creature.

"What? You couldn't hit me-"

She let fly, and the arrow pierced its shoulder and it shrieked in pain.

"That was your second. If you don't leave this instant the next will be through your heart."

"You're bluffing!" the monster insisted.

"Wanna' find out?" she prompted.

The answer was apparently 'no,' because the monster quickly shuffled away, swallowed back up into an invisiportal.

Kimberly sped around the counter and froze for a moment.

"Tommy!" she yelped. One good look told her the two main things she needed to know: he was not at all conscious, and not at all healthy. He was sweating like a dog, purple nastiness was splattered over his chest and neck, and the gunk was _glowing_ \- that was almost never a good sign. "I should've known," she muttered, kneeling down beside him and searching for any way to get help. '911' doesn't do much good for a monster attack, so she focussed on finding his morpher. After searching his pockets, she zeroed in on the band around his wrist. She felt around for a button, and, finding one, tested her intuition.

"Hello? This is Kimberly Hart. Tommy needs help! Is this a communicator? Hello?"

* * *

The three rangers walked quickly into Hayley's Cyberspace, trying to look casual, but finding it hard. Kira sat down at the counter, Ethan and Conner behind her, and Hayley was there in an instant, reading the nervous looks on their faces.

"What's wrong?" Hayley asked.

"We got a call from 'Kimberly Hart,'" Kira explained. "who is that?"

"Do you think it's a trap?" Ethan prompted.

Hayley looked between the three of them, a little stunned.

"What? How did she reach you? Why did she reach you?"

"She said Dr. O was in trouble. Is she legit?" Conner asked.

Hayley blanked for a moment - this was not what she had expected when she told Tommy to go talk to his ex.

"Yes," she assured them, "yes, Kim is 'legit.' And if something is wrong you need to be there five minutes ago. Go. Try to bring Tommy back in one piece."

The three teens nodded, and bolted from the restaurant.

* * *

Kim observed the slime on her gardening glove; this pair would need to be burned. If the gunk didn't eat through them first. She sighed. Billy was always a lot better with analysis. All she could tell for sure was that it was not 100% natural, and that it was highly toxic. She scraped what she could off of Tommy with the other glove and quickly peeled both gloves off, taking them outside and tossing them out onto the pavement. She pulled out a lighter, but before she could try to set the gloves on fire three rangers pulled up on dinosaur-esque motorcycles.

"Took you long enough," she said with a smile, placing a hand on her hip.

"Where is he?" the red ranger asked immediately.

"Inside. A monster hit him," she explained, "knocked him out cold."

The trio bolted into her shop, and Kim stepped casually into the doorway, keeping an eye on them.

"What do we do?" the red ranger asked his comrades, looking at Tommy, limp on the floor.

Kimberly looked them over - they sounded young, and they had smaller builds, too. They could be around the age she had been when she became a ranger.

"Well, uh, maybe Hayley would know?" the blue ranger offered. "Can we call her?"

"She's at work," the yellow ranger - the one girl, Kim noticed - reminded them. "we shouldn't bother her if we don't have to."

"Dr. O is passed out on the floor!" the blue ranger pointed out, "I think we might have to!"

" _Doctor_?" Kimberly echoed, a smirk sneaking up on her. They turned to face her. "I'm sorry, did you just say _doctor_?"

"Listen, lady, we've got a pretty serious situation, here-" the red ranger started, but Kimberly would have none of it.

"What's his PhD in, karate?!"

"I don't know if you know from monster attacks, but he could be _dying_ ," the red ranger insisted. "we really don't need you bothering us right now."

"Ok," she held up her hands in defeat, "but just one last thing-"

The rangers winced,

"What exactly is your plan?"

The trio exchanged looks.

"Uh…"

"W-well, we, um, could-"

"Maybe if-"

"Do you think it, um, uh…"

"How old are you?" she asked, gesturing between them.

"S-"

The yellow ranger elbowed the red ranger in the gut,

"Secret identities, doofus!" she snapped.

"Right. Yeah, right, of course."

"So, what, sixteen or seventeen? You're children. Here's what you need to do. You need to get him to your base as soon as possible. Can you teleport?"

Even through the tinted visors she got the sense that the kids were staring at her like she was nuts.

"No?"

They shook their heads.

"How do we get him on the bikes?" the red ranger asked.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," the yellow ranger responded.

"Then how do we get him there?"

"He'd fit in my car," Kimberly pointed out.

"You'll let us drive your car?!" the blue ranger blurted.

"No," Kim corrected him, "but you can lead me to the base."

"What?!" the red ranger shouted, "We can't just lead you to the base!"

"Really."

"Yeah! You've got to be a ranger!"

Kimberly was not impressed.

"You are children," she reminded them, "and it is not a good idea to strap someone to the back of a motorbike. I'm not lending you my car, and he needs help as soon as possible. Do you want my help, or not?"

The rangers shifted uncertainly.

Kim sighed. This was going nowhere fast.

"Is there someone else I could talk to? Like a big, blue, holographic head?"

The rangers stared at her.

"Who gave you your powers?" she tried to clarify.

"Uh…" the rangers exchanged looks.

"I don't know," the yellow ranger admitted.

"I mean, we found the gems in Dr. O's lab," the blue ranger pointed out.

"What, Tommy is the highest this goes?" Kim snorted, "God help us."

"I guess there's Hayley," the red ranger mumbled.

"Hayley? Who's Hayley?" Kimberly asked. This could go somewhere. "Is Hayley an adult?"

"Yeah."

"Great. Let me talk to her."

"Uh…" the rangers fumbled to call Hayley up, but eventually got a response,

"What's up?" Hayley's voice was low. She was probably still at work.

"Hello, is this Hayley?" Kim asked, leaning over the yellow ranger's wrist.

"Um, yes, who is this?"

"This is Kimberly Hart. Tommy's not doing so well, and I need to get to your base as soon as possible."

"Oh, of course. You should go."

Kim raised her eyebrows at the kids in a "See?" sort of look, and headed towards her car.

"Come on, rangers. Help me load him in the back."

* * *

The fog swirled around his gloved hands, braced against the ground on his hands and knees. Tommy struggled up to his feet and wasn't even able to really take in his surroundings before the sword was pressed against his neck. Around him pricks of light shone through the blackness beyond the green arches, and staring him down, sharp teeth exposed in a self-satisfied grin, was that horrific, monstrous mug: Goldar.

"What will you do, Green Ranger?" that gravely voice sneered.

He couldn't move. The adrenaline pumped through him all the same, just as it had all those years ago, but as the fear spiked he became acutely away of the stiffness of his limbs, and the distinct deja-vu. This wasn't new. This wasn't real. He wasn't here.

The dark dimension was quickly traded for black nothingness. With stiff limbs and heavy eyelids, Tommy slowly dragged himself back toward consciousness. He didn't put much thought towards it, but he assumed he was in his own bed.

A sound behind him brought all the nightmare adrenaline flooding back and he threw himself backwards, aiming to roll of the other side of the bed, ready to defend himself, and slammed full force into the back of the sofa.

Tommy groaned in pain and rolled back onto his back, trying to rub the soreness out of his nose. And then, by the time he managed to get his eyes open, she was there, surrounded by a soft edge of sunlight, chestnut brown hair falling down to frame her face, painted with a slight look of concern, and holding an empty coffee mug in one hand.

"Tommy? Y'alright?" she asked, her concerned look getting a little stronger.

Maybe it was because he'd just woken up, or maybe it was something else, but he couldn't seem to summon up a damn thing to say.

"Come on, man, you gotta' talk to me or I have to assume that nasty gunk made you mute."

He finally managed an awkward chuckle and raised himself up into a sitting position.

"No, not mute," he assured her.

"Good to hear," she responded with a smile. "can I get you anything out of your own kitchen?" she added, walking back toward the counter.

"I'll be ok. How long was I out?"

"A few hours," she said, pouring herself some coffee. She must have made it. "your friend Hayley is pretty nifty. Cooked up an antidote in under an hour."

"Hayley is just a friend," he mentioned. He felt compelled, somehow, to justify himself to Kim, and immediately he felt a little sheepish. It was a dumb thing to say; they weren't in high school anymore, and he didn't have to explain away any contact with another girl. He hadn't even talked to Kim in years.

Still, she shot him that same sort of knowing smile, just like in High School.

"I know," she replied. "she told me."

Something tightened in the pit of his stomach.

"Wh- what all did she tell you?" he asked, trying to be causal. The prospect of Hayley spilling his secrets was far more stressful than any encounter with a monster of the day.

"Not much," she said. "mostly just the history between the two of you. A college story or two."

"I'm not sure I want to know which ones."

Kim smirked into her coffee.

"You probably don't."

A silence hung between them, laced with time, distance, and a bridge burned a long time ago. Kim took a long pull on her coffee.

"How did you end up in Reefside?" he asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Bad luck?" she offered with a grin. "Actually, cheap property," she admitted. "a greenhouse takes up a lot of space."

He nodded, trying to look like he knew the first thing about gardening.

"What about you?" she retorted. "It's not too far, just a few hours down the coast, but Reefside still isn't Angel Grove. How'd you get here?"

"Teaching job."

"What do you teach?" she asked, a little incredulously.

"Science. Paleontology."

Kimberly snorted,

"Since when are you qualified for that?!"

"None of your business."

Kim laughed.

"Yeah, alright."

"What about you? How did gymnastics work out?"

"It was ok." Kim didn't look at anything in particular, seeing something distant in time and space. "But gymnasts sort of have an expiration date. So, I heeded gardening's call."

"Just like that?"

"Tommy," she smirked at him, "you've had long enough to get a doctorate. I've had long enough to leave gymnastics behind. Don't get me wrong, I stay in shape," she added, "but you don't grow old doing gymnastics. You go until you can't anymore, and then… Let's just say I decided to quit while I was ahead."

Tommy stood up from the couch, head swimming for a minute before getting used to the new altitude. Shaking it off he joined Kim in the kitchen, getting himself a glass of water.

"I could've gotten that, you know," she reminded him.

"I know," he assured her.

She took another sip of coffee and watched him. She hesitated a moment, before speaking up,

"Have you been a ranger this whole time?"

"No, I've had a few years off."

"I would hope so. I can't imagine saving the world would be easy to balance with a college workload."

"Do you know what a high school workload looks like now? I'm amazed these kids can balance _that_!"

"So, how long did you stay on?"

"A few more years. But really, I thought I was done with it back then. I was just supposed to be teaching these kids."

Kim raised an eyebrow, a grin playing at the corner of her mouth.

"Teach them science, or teach them how to be rangers?"

"Both? Though we didn't know for sure that people would find the crystals. Actually, we were going to try and plant them for particular kids, but I guess fate had other plans."

"Cute. So, you're Zordon now?" she asked with a big grin.

"Oh man," a realization came over Tommy, "yeah, kinda'."

"Wow. Or maybe Hayley's Zordon and you're Alpha?"

Tommy snorted.

"Maybe," he admitted, "she has got all the brains."

"Still, you're back in it. Do you feel old?"

"Sometimes. Do you ever miss it?"

"Well, I should say no, but I keep a bow and arrow in the store. Still, keeping those - whatever they were, the putty replacements - at bay was a heck of a workout."

"They're tough," Tommy agreed, changing down some water to try and drown the seed of guilt in his stomach. He found his eyes wandering, and they skimmed across Kim's hands. She had a ring. A part of him sank and he took another swig of water like it was liquor. It didn't do anything but keep him from looking right at her.

"That's a nice ring," he noted. Dammit, that was a stupid comment.

"Hm?" she glanced at her hand, as though she'd forgotten it was there. "Oh, yeah," she held up her hand, admiring it for a moment. "it's my college ring. You get it your sophomore year, and you're sort of initiated into the club. It's a cool tradition. There's stories of total strangers seeing rings at crowded airports and connecting over it." She glanced at him with a sly smile. "Did you think it was an engagement ring?"

Tommy took too long to come up with a satisfactory answer, so she answered for him.

"It wouldn't be. I haven't had a solid relationship since college."

"Not even with that great guy you wrote me about?"

She gave him a confused look for a moment before it dawned on her.

"Oh, that. Oh god," she laughed softly at herself for a moment, "that was a hyperbolic letter about a rebound boyfriend. I mean, let's be real, we both had lives to lead, and it's not like long distance relationships are easy, even if you're not saving the world or competing in the Pan Global games. It was going to happen anyway. Maybe I wanted to save myself the pain of you breaking up with me…"

Some responses almost made it out of Tommy's mouth that he definitely would have regretted, most along the lines of "I would never," but instead he said,

"You're probably right."

"What about you?" she asked, nudging him with an elbow, "Surely a fit, young science teacher is in high demand."

"Not really,"

"Oh, come on, really? Is it your spiky hair?"

"What's wrong with my hair?"

"Nothing," she assured him with half a grin, taking another sip of coffee. "I'm sure it's hip. I'm just not used to it short."

"Well-"

"Hello?"

Both Kim and Tommy flinched when a voice spoke up from his wristband.

"How's Tommy?" Hayley's voice asked through the communicator.

"I'm doing OK," Tommy responded, "what's up?"

"If you're in a fighting mood, the monster's back," Hayley explained.

"Well, now we know how to protect against the poison, right?" Tommy said, "so it should be an easy match."

"Should I tell them you're on your way?"

"I'll be there," he assured her. He turned on his heel to head for the door and turned right back to face Kim. "Uh…" there were a lot of loose ends to tie up here, not the least of which whether he wanted to just leave her in his house. He trusted her, of course, but still-

"Go on," she nudged, gesturing him on with her mug, "you've got a job to do."

"What if… I maybe met you for coffee?" he offered.

"I'm free tomorrow morning."

"It's a date," he winced at his own wording, "as in, like, a time, you know-"

"I know." she replied, giving him that wonderful, kind smile. "Now go! It's morphin' time!"

"You know it," he confirmed with a nod, dashing for the door and calling upon the powers of the brachiosaurus.

Kim took one final swig of coffee and rinsed out the mug, leaving it in the dish rack. Before she left she took a last look at the photos of teams past she'd found stuck to Tommy's fridge. They looked like a good team, these new kids, and she felt sure that even for all his flaws, Tommy would be a good mentor to them. But she lingered longest on a polaroid taken at some event back at the Angel Grove Youth Center.

She and Tommy were in the middle of the frame, each with an arm around the other, and surrounded by their closest friends. She smiled a nostalgic smile and headed for the door, holding with her the image of all of them, color coded and beaming: six teenagers with attitude.


End file.
